‘The Strain’ Is Renewed for a Second Season

Horror fans rejoice! “The Strain” will continue to spread for at least another season.

FX Networks said Tuesday that it renewed the apocalyptic vampire saga for a second, 13-episode season after the Guillermo Del Toro-Carlton Cuse production took a bigger bite out of cable audiences than the network expected through its first six episodes this season. The new season will begin airing next summer.

“It is thrilling when you have a show that is a creative and commercial hit, which is a rare accomplishment in this increasingly crowded marketplace,” FX President John Landgraf said in a release. “We look forward having it on FX for as long as Carlton, Guillermo and [co-creator] Chuck Hogan need to tell this epic tale.”

So far, “The Strain” has stayed reasonably faithful to the novel trilogy, written by Del Toro and Hogan, which inspired the show. Yet, Del Toro has said he’s eager to try new things and show us stuff that didn’t make the cut for books over the course of several seasons.

Del Toro, a lifetime student of vampire folklore, said he was “thrilled” that the show was renewed, according to FX’s release, promising “such sights to unveil in the upcoming episodes — the blood hits the fan on this one, mankind becomes an endangered species.”

Meanwhile, FX had some news that will help you over the holidays to shop for that vampire lover who has everything: Season one of “The Strain” will hit Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 2.

The seventh episode of the schlock-and-awe first season airs at 10 p.m. EDT on Sunday.